§ 410-71
Land nonconforming by area
[Amended 10-23-1997 by Ch. No. 2470]
- A. Enlargement of undersized lots. Lawfully established lots which have less than the minimum area requirements may be maintained and may be changed by adding additional land to such lots without prejudice to the rights of the owner of such lots pursuant to the provisions of this article.
- B. Merger of substandard lots.
- (1) If two or more adjacent lots of record or combinations of lots of record are in single or undivided ownership at the time of the adoption of this chapter or future amendment, and if all or part of such lots of record do not conform in the regulations for street frontage or area in effect for the zone involved, such lots of record shall be considered as a single lot for the purposes of this chapter. No such lot shall be divided for use, sale or other transfer of ownership without City Planning Commission approval or Joint Planning Commission as appropriate approval. The merger of lots shall not be required when the substandard lot of record has an area equal to or greater than the area of 50% of the lots within 200 feet of the subject lot, as confirmed by the Director.
[Amended 9-21-2006 by Ch. No. 2825; 12-20-2023 by Ch. No. 3287]
- (2) If two or more adjacent lots of record or combinations of lots of record are in single or undivided ownership at the time of the adoption of this chapter or future amendment, and if all or part of such lots of record are improved and do not conform in the regulations for street frontage or area in effect for the existing use within the zone involved, such lots of record shall be considered as a single lot for the purposes of this chapter. No such lot shall be divided for use, sale or other transfer of ownership without City Planning Commission or Joint Planning Commission as appropriate approval. The merger of lots shall not be required when the substandard lot of record has an area equal to or greater than the area of 50% of the lots within 200 of the subject lot, as confirmed by the Director.
[Added 11-21-2007 by Ch. No. 2881; amended 12-20-2023 by Ch. No. 3287]
Editor's Note: This Ch. No. 2881 also renumbered former Subsection B(2) as Subsection B(3).
- (3) However, any merged lot in the RS, RT and RM District may be subdivided, with City Planning Commission approval, into as many five-thousand-square-foot lots as possible, and if any merged lot in the RL District may be subdivided, with City Planning Commission approval, into as many nine-thousand-square-foot lots as possible. Although the City Planning Commission shall have the power to approve an equal number of lots as would be created by such mechanism above, any and all lot area which remains after the subdivision of the merged lot shall not be construed as an existing nonconforming lot of record but, rather, such remaining lot area shall, without exception, be distributed evenly over such newly created legal and conforming lots.
- (4) A substandard lot of record shall not be required to seek any zoning relief based solely on the failure to meet minimum lot size requirements of the district in which such lot is located. The setback, frontage, and/or lot width requirements for a structure under this section shall be reduced and the maximum building coverage requirements shall be increased by the same proportion as the lot area of the substandard lot is to the minimum lot area requirement of the zoning district in which the lot is located. All proposals exceeding such reduced requirement shall proceed with a modification request in accordance with § 410-97.1 or a variance request in accordance with Article XIII of this chapter.
[Added 12-20-2023 by Ch. No. 3287]
- (1) If two or more adjacent lots of record or combinations of lots of record are in single or undivided ownership at the time of the adoption of this chapter or future amendment, and if all or part of such lots of record do not conform in the regulations for street frontage or area in effect for the zone involved, such lots of record shall be considered as a single lot for the purposes of this chapter. No such lot shall be divided for use, sale or other transfer of ownership without City Planning Commission approval or Joint Planning Commission as appropriate approval. The merger of lots shall not be required when the substandard lot of record has an area equal to or greater than the area of 50% of the lots within 200 feet of the subject lot, as confirmed by the Director.
- C. Notwithstanding the failure of a single substandard lot of record or contiguous lots of record to meet the dimensional and/or quantitative requirements of this chapter, and/or frontage or other access requirements applicable to the district as stated in this chapter, a substandard lot of record shall not be required to seek any zoning relief based solely on the failure to meet minimum lot size requirements of the district in which such lot is located. The setback, frontage. and/or lot width requirements for a structure under this section shall be reduced and the maximum building coverage requirements shall be increased by the same proportion as the lot area of the substandard lot is to the minimum lot area requirement of the zoning district in which the lot is located. All proposals exceeding such reduced requirement shall proceed with a modification request under § 410-97.1 or a dimensional variance request under Article XII of this chapter, whichever is applicable.
[Added 12-20-2023 by Ch. No. 3287]